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Tesla shares tumble below $150 per share

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Tesla shares tumble below 0 per share


Tesla’s stock tumbled below $150 per share, giving up all the gains made over the past year as the electric vehicle maker reels from falling sales and steep discounts intended to lure more buyers.


What You Need To Know

  • Tesla’s stock tumbled below $150 per share, giving up all the gains made over the past year as the electric vehicle maker reels from falling sales and steep discounts intended to lure more buyers
  • Shares of Tesla Inc. last traded at the $150 level in Jan. 2023
  • Wall Street expects that Tesla will report a decline in first quarter earnings next week and many are wondering if there’s any near-term catalyst for growth that would end Tesla’s stock slide
  • Musk disputed the reports, but wrote on X, the social media platform that he owns, that Tesla would unveil a robotaxi at an event on Aug. 8

Shares in the Elon Musk-owned company slid nearly 4% in intraday trading Thursday, in what now stands as the third worst week for the stock in 2024, a year that has been dismal for Tesla investors. The Austin, Texas company’s shares are down 12.4% this week and more than 39% this year.

Shares of Tesla Inc. last traded at the $150 level in Jan. 2023.

It’s also been a bad year for employees. Tesla said Monday that it was cutting 10% of its staff globally, about 14,000 jobs. The next day, Tesla announced it would try to re-instate Musk’s $56 billion pay package that was rejected by a Delaware judge in January, who said that the arrangement was dictated by Musk and was the product of sham negotiations with directors who were not independent of him.

At the time of the Delaware court ruling, Musk’s package was worth more than $55.8 billion, but the stock slide has cut that to $44.9 billion at the close of trading on Friday, according to a company filing this week.

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Tesla shares hit an all-time intraday high of $415.50 in Nov. 2021, adjusted for a 3-for-1 stock split that took effect in August 2022.

Tesla sales fell sharply last quarter as competition increased worldwide, electric vehicle sales growth slowed, and price cuts failed to draw more buyers. The company said it delivered 386,810 vehicles from January through March, nearly 9% below the 423,000 it sold in the same quarter of last year.

Dan Ives, an analyst with Wedbush who has been very bullish on Tesla’s stock, called the first quarter sales numbers an “unmitigated disaster.”

“For Musk, this is a fork in the road time to get Tesla through this turbulent period otherwise dark days could be ahead,” Ives wrote this week.

Yet on Thursday, Deutsche Bank joined other industry analysts in voicing concern over Musk’s big bet on autonomous vehicles as it stripped the company of its “buy” rating, citing Tesla’s “change of strategic priority to Robotaxi.”

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Wall Street expects that Tesla will report a decline in first quarter earnings next week and many are wondering if there’s any near-term catalyst for growth that would end Tesla’s stock slide. Industry analysts were expecting a new small electric vehicle for the masses that would cost around $25,000, the Model 2, but there were reports last week that Musk was scrapping that project.

Musk disputed the reports, but wrote on X, the social media platform that he owns, that Tesla would unveil a robotaxi at an event on Aug. 8.

Uncertainty over the release of a cheaper vehicle from Tesla has altered the equation for analysts like Deutche Bank’s Emmanuel Rosner.

Such a delay would tie Tesla’s future more closely to “cracking the code on full driverless autonomy, which represents a significant technological, regulatory and operational challenge. We view Tesla’s shift as thesis-changing,” Rosner wrote.

Since last year, Tesla has cut prices as much as $20,000 on some models as it faced increasing competition and slowing demand.

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Other automakers also have had to cut electric vehicle production and reduce prices to move EVs off dealership lots. Ford, for instance, cut production of the F-150 Lightning electric pickup, and lopped up to $8,100 off the price of the Mustang Mach E electric SUV in order to sell 2023 models.

U.S. electric vehicle sales growth slowed to 3.3% in the first quarter of the year, far below the 47% increase that fueled record sales and a 7.6% market share last year. Sales of new vehicles overall grew 5.1%, and the EV market share declined to 7.15%.

In addition to massive job cuts this week, Tesla this week announced the departure of two high-placed executives.

Andrew Baglino, Tesla’s senior vice president of powertrain and energy engineering, is leaving after 18 years with the company.

Rohan Patel, senior global director of public policy and business development and eight-year Tesla veteran, is also departing.

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Austin, TX

Southwest Airlines establishing new crew base in Austin

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Southwest Airlines establishing new crew base in Austin


AUSTIN, Texas (KVIA) — Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that Southwest Airlines will establish a new pilot and flight attendant crew base in Austin.

Abbott joined the Austin mayor at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport to make the announcement today.

The expansion to Austin will lay the groundwork for future operational growth in Texas. It is expected to generate 2,000 jobs in Austin by mid-2027. In addition to the pilots and flight attendants, Austin will now also be home to managerial and support staff. The new crew base will have an average salary of $180,000 a year, the Governor’s Office says.

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The state is extending a $14 million Texas Enterprise Fund to the airline, as well as a $375,000 Veteran Created Job Bonus.

“Southwest Airlines was born and raised in Texas and has been a core element of the economic growth we have seen in our state,” said Governor Abbott. “We are excited to announce that today Southwest Airlines will add over 2,000 high paying jobs right here in Texas. We are the home of economic opportunity for our fellow Texans more than any other state in the United States, and we know a key reason for that is because of everything Southwest Airlines provides. We are proud to partner with everybody connected with Southwest as well as the City of Austin on such a huge announcement for our state.”



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Austin, TX

Fire destroys abandoned E Austin auto shop

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Fire destroys abandoned E Austin auto shop


Austin firefighters battled their second major fire Thursday afternoon, responding to an abandoned East Austin auto shop engulfed in flames.

Crews responded to 3100 Manor Road around 4 p.m., AFD said.

No injuries were reported and no one was inside the building.

ALSO | 40+ residents displaced in North Austin third-alarm apartment fire, no injuries reported

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The incident was called in as a first alarm. The building is a total loss, according to officials.

CBS Austin has a crew on the way to the scene.

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Earlier in the afternoon, firefighters extinguished a three-alarm fire in north Austin.

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Austin, TX

Austin road rage suspect identified, charged with criminal mischief: affidavit

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Austin road rage suspect identified, charged with criminal mischief: affidavit


The suspect in a violent road rage incident on the Capital of Texas Highway has been identified and charged, according to court paperwork.

The altercation was caught on camera.

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What we know:

34-year-old Ian Kevin Brinkmeyer has been charged with criminal mischief, a Class B misdemeanor, in connection with the Dec. 5 incident.

At around 2 p.m. that day, officers responded to a call for service on Capital of Texas Highway, where they spoke with Brinkmeyer and another man.

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The affidavit says Brinkmeyer “engaged in a road rage” with the other man while traveling north on Capital of Texas Highway. Brinkmeyer drove around the other man, changed lanes in front of him and cut him off before stopping his car.

Brinkmeyer then allegedly got out of his vehicle holding a “steel knife sharpening rod”, walked over to the other man’s car and struck the driver’s side door window with the rod, shattering the entire window.

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The affidavit says Brinkmeyer then quickly walked back to his car and drove off.

The entire incident was caught on video by other drivers and posted on social media.

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The affidavit says that the repairs to the shattered window cost about $480, making this a case of criminal mischief with a value between $100 and $750.

What’s next:

A warrant has been issued for Brinkmeyer’s arrest. As of 12 p.m. Dec. 11, he is not in custody.

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The Source: Information in this report comes from court paperwork and previous reporting.

Crime and Public SafetyAustin



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